DNA Match Leads To Charges In 2007 St. Paul Rape Case

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ST. PAUL (WCCO) — A 31-year-old man has been charged with criminal sexual conduct for a rape that occurred nearly five years ago, according to police.

According to police, Jeremy Vernon Breezee has been linked to a rape that occurred on May 5, 2007. Police were sent to a home across the street from the Battle Creek Recreation Center and Park where the owner said a woman knocked on the door, half naked and crying.

The woman told police she was raped in the park by a man she met a few hours earlier. Police recovered her missing clothing in the park and she was taken to Regions Hospital for a sexual assault exam.

Police say the women was hanging out with the suspect at the Exel Inn on White Bear Avenue. She said he started hitting on her but she wasn’t interested and “was only attracted to black guys.” She agreed to go with him to purchase marijuana at Battle Creek Park and said that’s when he took her to the middle of a baseball field and assaulted her.

She told police he said, “This is why you need a white guy,” during the alleged rape.

Authorities say Breezee, of St. Paul, was linked to the crime through a DNA match. The sexual assault evidence taken from the rape kit and sent for DNA analysis was matched on Oct. 17, 2011 from a sample previously submitted into the Minnesota Convicted Offender database.

Breezee’s probation officer told authorities that he violated probation in January, so they were able to interview him and obtain a DNA sample for a follow-up check.

On Feb. 21, the BCA issued a report showing a positive match between Breezee and the sexual assault evidence from the 2007 rape.